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Pair of Doors with Carved Decoration

second half of the 8th century

Not on view

Richly patterned like the stone carvings at the Umayyad palace at Mshatta, these doors are said to have been found near the Abbasid capital Baghdad in Iraq. With their distinctive mixture of naturalism, abstraction, and geometry, they epitomize the transitional style characteristic of the late Umayyad and early Abbasid periods. Taste for surface pattern and stylization spread widely at this time, appearing in monuments throughout the Islamic empire from Central Asia to North Africa, including the lost southern provinces of the Byzantine Empire.

Pair of Doors with Carved Decoration, Wood — Due to rights restrictions, this image cannot be enlarged, viewed at full screen, or downloaded.

Title: Pair of Doors with Carved Decoration

Date: second half of the 8th century

Geography: Made in Probably Iraq

Medium: Wood

Dimensions: 100 3/8 x 48 7/16 in. (255 x 123 cm)

Classification: Woodwork

Credit Line: Benaki Museum, Athens (9121)

Accession Number: isl1710

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Medieval Art and The Cloisters at The Met

The Museum's collection of medieval and Byzantine art is among the most comprehensive in the world, encompassing the art of the Mediterranean and Europe from the fall of Rome to the beginning of the Renaissance.